A 15-year-old Canadian had his hard-to-find Christmas gift taken off him before he'd even had the chance to unwrap it. After the teen was caught smoking a spliff, his father retaliated by flogging his Wii copy of Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock he'd lined up for his son's Christmas present on eBay, netting him over $9,000 in the process. More info below.

The schoolteacher had been planning to give the $90 game as a Christmas gift to his son, and had taken weeks to find it. "I couldn't wait to spread the jubilance to my son," he rather touchingly wrote in the online auction blurb on eBay. But when he saw his son smoking in the back garden with some friends, he felt that the tearaway teen did not deserve such munificence, and decided to teach his son a lesson.

One bid of $9,100 later, and the teen's erstwhile copy of Guitar Hero III was sold to a wealthy Australian buyer. It hasn't turned out all bad for the teen, however, as the father has indicated that he may still buy his son a Nintendo game after all. "Maybe something like Barbie as the Island Princess or Dancing with the Stars. I know he will just love them." – Kit Eaton [eBay via AFP]